Sunday 7th September 2025 Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

"Let your face shine upon your servant;
and teach me your laws."

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Mass & Confession Schedule Changes (Due to Fr. Lyons’ Sick Leave)
Weekend Masses

• St. Andrew’s, Bearsden
  • Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm
  • Sunday: 10:00am (Confessions from 9:10am)
• St. Joseph’s, Milngavie
  • Saturday Vigil: 4:30pm (Confessions from 4:00pm)
  • Sunday: 11:30am

Weekday Masses

• St. Joseph’s: Monday, 10:00am
• St. Andrew’s: Thursday & Friday, 10:00am

Holydays of Obligation

• St. Joseph’s: Vigil Mass at 7:00pm
• St. Andrew’s: 10:00am

Funerals and sick calls will be covered by St Andrew's.

Second Collection
There will be a second collection next weekend, 13th/14th September for SPRED.
 
PVG Updates

• Due to new legislation, from this month it is illegal to work with children or protected adults if your PVG is out of date.
• If your most recent PVG was issued on or before 2020 it is now required to be updated.
• Please contact Clare, the Parish Safeguarding Co-Ordinator, at [email protected] to find out what you need to do.

Flooring 

• The Upper Hall corridor, church foyer, and piety stall will be having the floor covering replaced after Mass on Sunday 7th September and Monday 8th September.
• The Halls Committee apologises for any inconvenience this may cause.

All P7 parents intending to present their child for the Sacrament of Confirmation should collect an enrolment form from the sacristy at St Andrew’s or St Joseph’s church before Mass.

• All forms are to be returned to either church by Sunday, 14th September 2025 please.
• The Sacrament of Confirmation will take place in Bearsden on Thursday, 4th December at 7p.m. for P7 children from both parishes.

Final Year at School?

• Like to do the Caritas Award?
• The Award celebrates the faith witness which Caritas candidates give within their home, school and parish.
• Join the other students who have already signed up.
• The meetings begin in late September.
• For more information, speak to Fr Michael and visit https://sces.org.uk/caritas-award

Catholic Social Teaching Thought for the Week – 7th September 2025
"We need to go forth from our own communities and be bold enough to go to the existential outskirts that need to feel the closeness of God. He abandons no one, and he always shows his unfailing tenderness and mercy; this, therefore, is what we need to take to all people."
"Pope Francis, Message to Pilgrims gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 16 November 2013
 
Laudato Si’-On Care for our Common Home
"Once the human being declares independence from reality and behaves with absolute dominion, the very foundations of our life begin to crumble, for “instead of carrying out his role as a cooperator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature”.
(Encyclical Centisimus Annus) (#117)
 
Mitsidi Project.

• St Joseph's, Milngavie are having a fund-raising Coffee Morning next
• Saturday, 13th September from 11a.m. to 2p.m. in the Church Hall.
• All are welcome to attend. More on poster in the porch.

 
The Season of Creation, Week 2 

• Archbishop Nolan will celebrate Mass this Sunday, 7th September at 12.00 Noon, in St Andrew’s Cathedral using the new text of the Mass for the Care of Creation.

Season of Creation Week 2, Zoom Sessions

• The Reality of Climate Change, with Blessings Kachale on Thursday 11th September at 7p.m.
• She will describe her work with SCIAF’s climate adaptation project in Rwanda and share her own experience of climate change and that of her family and community.
• Register at: https://forms.gle/pcpKhPVtz6ekckP89​​

J & P Newsletter September-November 2025
Is available on: https://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk
 
Jubilee Service

• Each Deanery in the diocese has been asked to take part in a Jubilee Service (not Mass) at the Cathedral this year.
• Our date is 15th September at 7p.m. along with St Joseph's, Milngavie.
• A bus should pick us up and take us back from the Cathedral round about 8.30pm.
• Tea will be served in the Curial offices for us after the Service.
• Further details will follow later.

 
Season of Creation, Week 3, Advance Notice.

• People from all over Scotland will gather at the Scottish Parliament and Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on Thursday 18th September to tell our MSPs:
• This is a moment for leadership that protects what matters most — our health, our nature, our communities, our climate, and our future.
• You are being invited to join them.

 
Pilgrimage to pray for the Beatification of The Venerable Margaret Sinclair

• Sunday, 21st September in St Patrick's Church, Cowgate-Edinburgh
• For more details, please see the poster in the porch.

 
Children's choir dates:

• 14th September
• 21st September
• 16th November
• 14th December
• 21st December
• 25th December
• If your child is not in St Nicholas and would like to join, please contact Annamaria Strachan ([email protected]) 07749 715514 for details.

 
RCIA Programme: Thinking of joining the Catholic Church?  Well, come and see!

• Our RCIA programme (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is a warm and welcoming space to explore the Catholic faith, ask questions and discover what it means to follow Jesus.
• The programme begins in Autumn through to Easter.
• If interested, email [email protected] to arrange an informal, no obligation chat.
• We would be very pleased to hear from you. RCIA Team.

 
Difficulty Reading Local News?

• The Bearsden & Milngavie Talking Newspaper Association – BEAM- provides recordings each week, to the blind and visually impaired in the local community.
• The Milngavie & Bearsden Herald.
• Extracts from the Community News plus stories from e.g. the Scottish Book Trust, adding a bit of light-hearted interest.
• Free boom boxes are supplied.
• The Post Office provides a free postal service - therefore no cost to listeners.
• For more information contact Graham Silcock – 07770 524983.

 
Support Group for Catholic Women Affected by Separation and Divorce

• The next meeting of our support group for women is Friday, 26th September, in The Immaculate Conception Church Hall, Maryhill, from 6.00p.m to 8.00p.m. 
• New members are welcome to this confidential support group, run by women who have come through this experience themselves.
• For further info: email: [email protected]

Sign Up Sunday

• After each Mass on the 4th and 5th of October 2025 in the Upper Hall.
• Our various groups will be at tables ready to chat through what the group does and any volunteer responsibilities.
• Please pop in! Tea and coffee will be available. 
• If you are a group leader and have not received an email about the event, please get in touch with Father Michael, Mary Teresa Coyle or Veronica McLaughlin. 

 
Children’s Liturgy

• To keep this valuable programme going, we need more volunteers.
• No special skills—just enthusiasm and the desire to help the parish children.
• We’ll provide all resources needed and guidance through the PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups) process.
• Please note that for the safety of our children, only those with PVG approval are permitted in the hall.
• For more information, please contact Fr Michael or Gillian Harkness or leave your details using the QR code displayed in the church porch.

The Church is open until 5p.m. Monday to Saturday.

• Call in and enjoy the peace and quiet and take time to sit in the stillness in the silence of God.
• Tea is served in the hut after daily Mass/Services Monday to Thursday.
• All most welcome.

 
Our volunteers

• Collect donations every evening from M&S Milngavie
• Deliver to St Gregory’s, Wyndford Foodbank and Aspire West End
• This helps people get back on their feet.
• If you are interested in volunteering or even providing occasional holiday cover, please get in touch with Veronica McLaughlin by email at: [email protected]

 
Parish Bulletin

• Items for inclusion should be sent to [email protected] by 5p.m. on the Tuesday before publication, maximum 80 words.
• The Parish Bulletin is available weekly on our website/by email for all those on our Parish database and on the noticeboard in the Church porch.

Please remember in your prayers those in need, those who are sick and housebound and those in hospital.
Recently Dead: Cathy Trias.
Anniversaries: Mary Doherty.